Nick Pope

[Steve1956]

The best English keeper in the Premier League,Southgate surely can not go on ignoring his performances and keep picking Pickford..sheer weight of public opinion not just from Burnley fans but all fans around the country will see him keep for England this summer in the Euro's ....wont it?

[bf2k]

When the team are not expected to face a massive amount of goal threat, like in qualifiers, I can see why Southgate would want to play with virtually another center half. However, during major tournaments we do face a real goal threat and Pickford isn't good enough.

[arise_sir_charge]

As good of a keeper any in the world.

[Steve1956]

As good of a keeper any in the world.

He just gives you the impression that nothing is going to beat him,quite simply the best keeper I've seen in a Burnley shirt in 50 odd years of supporting us....love him!

[tiger76]

The best English keeper in the Premier League,Southgate surely can not go on ignoring his performances and keep picking Pickford..sheer weight of public opinion not just from Burnley fans but all fans around the country will see him keep for England this summer in the Euro's ....wont it?

Yeah! but his kicking is dreadful, that's why GS won't pick him for England.

If Pickford is fit, Pickford will play in the Euro's, it's only when he drops a clanger in a major tournament that Gareth will be forced to drop him, but by then it'll be too late.

[Steve1956]

Yeah! but his kicking is dreadful, that's why GS won't pick him for England.

If Pickford is fit, Pickford will play in the Euro's, it's only when he drops a clanger in a major tournament that Gareth will be forced to drop him, but by then it'll be too late.

A goalkeepers job is stopping the ball going in the net..quite simple and Pope can do that better than Pickford...playing out from the back is a shite tactic anyway invariably the keeper passes to the full back then back to the keeper who hoofs it....Pep's team is good at it the rest are shite.

[nyclaret]

One of the weirdest things about modern football is that it's now deemed more important for keepers to have good feet rather than keeping the ball out the net. Pope is head and shoulders above Pickford as a GOALKEEPER.

[IanMcL]

Not only does Pickford make hand and positioning clangers, he makes them with his feet too.

Pope by a distance.

[tiger76]

A goalkeepers job is stopping the ball going in the net..quite simple and Pope can do that better than Pickford...playing out from the back is a shite tactic anyway invariably the keeper passes to the full back then back to the keeper who hoofs it....Pep's team is good at it the rest are shite.

I don't disagree, but we don't make the call, that idiot Southgate does, and I'll be if he ditches Pickford for the Euro's, even though he probably should.

Totally agree on the playing out from the back, our most nervous moments in the Liverpool game were when we overplayed, rightly or wrongly this is why we keep it simple.

[huw.Y.WattfromWare]

Nick Pope at Anfield.
P3 W1 D2 L0

[LeadBelly]

Nice accolade in the Telegraph match report, relevant excerpt is:
"That is to take nothing from Burnley, who did what they do at their best. Their centre-backs dealt with comfortably with every cross, and if there is a better English goalkeeper than Nick Pope, who is it? It is not that he was overworked, but he has that quality where everything he does looks at ease."

[FactualFrank]

With regards to the Euros, I'll be surprised if it goes ahead this summer.

[Bordeauxclaret]

Mentioned it on a thread the other week, we can be biased but he is comfortably the best English keeper around.
Amazed how it’s even debatable.

[MACCA]

As for Pope, he IS the best English goal keeper. He just does mess about at the back.
England building from the back is fine, he can pass 20 yards or roll it to a CB of that I'm sure

Tournament football can be lost with 1 mistake, and 1st priority is to keep the ball out and not make mistakes.
Pope does that the best.

Also his command of the area is 2nd to none in the whole league, that is a massive bonus when seeing out results ( again ideal for tournament football when/if infront)

[Stalbansclaret]

All you have to do is ask yourself how you'd feel if we swapped Pope for Pickford !

Pope is performing at a genuinely exceptional level consistently ...it's amazing how (relatively) calm I feel when the opposition are attacking and he is a big part of that. Watching him come and take a cross is a thing of beauty in itself.

[Hibsclaret]

We have reached a point now where it is an absolute embarrassment that Nick is not in the England goal. If he was with one of the big 6 he would be, of that I have no doubt.

All the best international keepers make very few mistakes. The kicking part is an issue these days but an international keeper needs to be somewhere near to being as good as Allison or Ederson or Pope in terms of keeping the ball out first and foremost... Pickford is nowhere near that...then you can add the kicking into the equation

[Steve1956]

This will never ever grow old...Middlesbrough

FB_IMG_1611873464820.jpg (30.9 KiB) Viewed 3439 times

[THEWELLERNUT70]

A thoroughbred of a keeper

[huw.Y.WattfromWare]

Pickford won’t be Everton first choice much longer. Ancelotti was doubtful of him before last night’s double clanger.
Pope just keeps improving.

[dandeclaret]

I know I have a bee in my bonnet about the player ratings, but for such a good goalkeeeper, playing so well, I was surprised to see that his rating for the 2019-20 season from the player ratings thread was 7.09 - A rating of good (7). Seems bizarre to me for a keeper who misses out on the Golden Gloves on the last day of the season, sandwiched by keepers costing 40-50 times more.

[Vino blanco]

I think Ancellotti will drop Pickford soon.

[TheFamilyCat]

I know I have a bee in my bonnet about the player ratings, but for such a good goalkeeeper, playing so well, I was surprised to see that his rating for the 2019-20 season from the player ratings thread was 7.09 - A rating of good (7). Seems bizarre to me for a keeper who misses out on the Golden Gloves on the last day of the season, sandwiched by keepers costing 40-50 times more.

Pope is so good that making 3-4 outstanding saves a game is just an average performance for him.

[Stanbill05]

I’m thankful his kicking is below average. He wouldn’t be at Burnley much longer if he had footwork as well.

[Socrates]

This kicking thing is getting silly now.

It’s almost impossible for any pundit to mention Nick Pope’s ability without talking about Jordan Pickford’s feet. It’s like a Pavlovian response.

Pope’s kicking isn’t that bad. Pickford’s kicking really isn’t that good. And England aren’t Pep’s Barcelona. The England goalie will have the ball at his feet as part of a move where he is under pressure maybe, maybe twice a match .... if that, even less against the bigger teams.

If our whole attacking ethos and play is significantly weakened by having a goalkeeper with slightly poorer footballing ability ..... well I’m afraid we’re doing it wrong and have absolutely no chance of winning a tournament anyway.

I know this opinion is a bit “yer Dad” or “angry Uncle”, but the goalkeeper being a good footballer thing is rubbish. Even Ederson, universally acknowledged as being the best footballing goalie around .... how much does he really get involved nowadays? Far, far better to have an actual keeper involved than that hologram who plays for Everton.

And I know people will say he hasn’t made a mistake for England. I would counter by saying he hasn’t made a big one .... yet. But it’s in the post, isn’t it? We all know it’s coming. And when he does Southgate is going to look a proper dick. It’s the type of obvious thing that loses you the trust of all the media and ruins your reputation permanently.

[bfcjg]

This will never ever grow old...Middlesbrough

FB_IMG_1611873464820.jpg

Having finally realised he is a total tool he's changed his surname, he now answers to Andy Bell-End.

[Stayingup]

Steve. Good article in the Telegraph this morning entitled POPE'S TECHNIQUE SHOWS UP PICKFORD FLAWS.

A comparison between Pope, Pickford and Henderson. One of their reprters Chris bascombe - a Liverpool fan - said after the recent game at Anfield that if there is a better English keeper than Pope who is it?

[Paul Waine]

The Times has Nick Pope in the team of the "season, so far."

UTC

[tiger76]

The Times has Nick Pope in the team of the "season, so far."

UTC

And quite rightly so to, Nick usually makes at least one crucial save a match, and I really do think we take him for granted far too often, plus his command of his area is a huge help to our defence, Billy Mercer has to be given most of the credit for his improvement, and now he's working his magic on BPF & Norris, so that if or when Nick flies the Clarets nest, we've got a couple of ready made replacements in the wings to take over.

[Paul Waine]

And quite rightly so to, Nick usually makes at least one crucial save a match, and I really do think we take him for granted far too often, plus his command of his area is a huge help to our defence, Billy Mercer has to be given most of the credit for his improvement, and now he's working his magic on BPF & Norris, so that if or when Nick flies the Clarets nest, we've got a couple of ready made replacements in the wings to take over.

I was also pleased to see Tom Heaton in the tv studio when we played Liverpool and on Villa's bench the other night. I'd welcome Tom back to t'Turf if we needed to add to our strength and depth in keepers.

UTC

[SouthLondonexile]

The best English keeper in the Premier League,Southgate surely can not go on ignoring his performances and keep picking Pickford..sheer weight of public opinion not just from Burnley fans but all fans around the country will see him keep for England this summer in the Euro's ....wont it?

IMHO Pope should be the first name on Southgates team sheet. Simply the best. Added to this should be the development of a Stones Tarkowski centre back partnership for England. On merit I would also find a place in the England Squad for Ben Mee. I would also order Mings to get fitter so he can last 94 minutes.

[ten bellies]

Yeah! but his kicking is dreadful, that's why GS won't pick him for England.

If Pickford is fit, Pickford will play in the Euro's, it's only when he drops a clanger in a major tournament that Gareth will be forced to drop him, but by then it'll be too late.

Popes kicking has got a lot better. It certainly isn't dreadful. Southgate's argument for retaining Pickford becomes more laughable as each game passes.

[HunterST_BFC]

Pickford is the worst keeper since Joe Exotic.

[ClaretPope]

Steve. Good article in the Telegraph this morning entitled POPE'S TECHNIQUE SHOWS UP PICKFORD FLAWS.

A comparison between Pope, Pickford and Henderson. One of their reprters Chris bascombe - a Liverpool fan - said after the recent game at Anfield that if there is a better English keeper than Pope who is it?

The article is behind a paywall. Can anyone cut and paste?

[Burnley1989]

Nobody else plays like us though tbf, the ball wouldn’t stick it would come right back if Pope went long for England

[scouseclaret]

This kicking thing is getting silly now.

It’s almost impossible for any pundit to mention Nick Pope’s ability without talking about Jordan Pickford’s feet. It’s like a Pavlovian response.

Pope’s kicking isn’t that bad. Pickford’s kicking really isn’t that good. And England aren’t Pep’s Barcelona. The England goalie will have the ball at his feet as part of a move where he is under pressure maybe, maybe twice a match .... if that, even less against the bigger teams.

If our whole attacking ethos and play is significantly weakened by having a goalkeeper with slightly poorer footballing ability ..... well I’m afraid we’re doing it wrong and have absolutely no chance of winning a tournament anyway.

I know this opinion is a bit “yer Dad” or “angry Uncle”, but the goalkeeper being a good footballer thing is rubbish. Even Ederson, universally acknowledged as being the best footballing goalie around .... how much does he really get involved nowadays? Far, far better to have an actual keeper involved than that hologram who plays for Everton.

And I know people will say he hasn’t made a mistake for England. I would counter by saying he hasn’t made a big one .... yet. But it’s in the post, isn’t it? We all know it’s coming. And when he does Southgate is going to look a proper dick. It’s the type of obvious thing that loses you the trust of all the media and ruins your reputation permanently.

The kicking thing is just an excuse. The football establishment just doesn’t like players from smaller clubs being picked ahead of those from the bigger clubs. If it wasn’t kicking they would find something else. This clown cites league position:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... SApp_Other

I wonder what he would have said last season when, for the second time in three years, we finished above Everton - in no small part due to the relative competence of our goalkeepers.

Astonishing that somebody can make a living writing sh!t like this.

[Grimsdale]

I wonder what he would have said last season when, for the second time in three years, we finished above Everton - in no small part due to the relative competence of our goalkeepers.

Number of times a team with Pickford in goal has finished above a team with Pope in goal: 0

[elwaclaret]

The kicking thing is just an excuse. The football establishment just doesn’t like players from smaller clubs being picked ahead of those from the bigger clubs. If it wasn’t kicking they would find something else. This clown cites league position:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... SApp_Other

I wonder what he would have said last season when, for the second time in three years, we finished above Everton - in no small part due to the relative competence of our goalkeepers.

Astonishing that somebody can make a living writing sh!t like this.

That is the Guardian for you these days. I’d put it about a level with a yuppie version of The Sun for the quality of their journalism. Half baked half witted bandwagoning at its worst most of it.

[thelaughingclaret]

Southgate is the type of person to pick a striker based on their goal keeping ability. The man has several screw loose.
Who on earth thinks how good a goal keeper is is based on their ability to kick the ball? It is madness. He should be in a padded cell.

[welsbyswife]

Southgate is the type of person to pick a striker based on their goal keeping ability. The man has several screw loose.
Who on earth thinks how good a goal keeper is is based on their ability to kick the ball? It is madness. He should be in a padded cell.

Brilliant. Had to log in just to like that

[Steve1956]

Southgate is the type of person to pick a striker based on their goal keeping ability. The man has several screw loose.
Who on earth thinks how good a goal keeper is is based on their ability to kick the ball? It is madness. He should be in a padded cell.

Brilliant..so funny..and true.

[welsbyswife]

The bloke is a complete joke. It used to be the pinnacle to manage England. How have we ended up with him? A blind man on a galloping horse can see pitchfork is a liability. He continues to pick young kids from big clubs who have only played a handful of senior games whilst ignoring in form players who have far more experience. Plus he's so ****** wet. Stop trying to be so nice to everyone. Can't stick him.